Review: The Misbehavin' Maidens - "Swearing is Caring"

When I backed The PDX Broadsides’ Kickstarter, they pointed out their friends, The Misbehavin’ Maidens, also had a Kickstarter campaign going on. As I mentioned in the review for Relatable Content, The PDX Broadsides started off as a pirate shanty band. The Misbehavin’ Maidens still are a pirate shanty band, or at least a few of their songs on Swearing is Caring follow sea shanty song structures and melodies. And, other than tamborines and drums, they’re an acapella band.

I got to see them when The Doubleclicks came to Maryland on their most recent tour and they were a ton of fun live, especially when they sang the Space Shanty. The album contains some fun, irreverant lyrics revolving around feminist and LGBTQ+ issues as well as nerd topics. It’s a pretty great mix of topics. However, this album is not for those who dislike protanity or explicit lyrics; Tipper Gore would not approve.

1. Bibliophilia - I’m a HUGE lover of puns, so an entire song revolving around library puns and sexual innuendos was enough to get me to back the album on Kickstarter.

2. Slytherins are Misunderstood - As I mentioned before, I’m just a little too old for the Potter craze, but I still really enjoy this song.

3. Mermaids and Queers - I first heard this song live when they were on the Doubleclicks’ tour. The delight comes from the ingenious ways the Misbehavin’ Maidens have devised for mermaids to doom all members of the sexual spectrum.

4. Space Shanty - I shan’t give away what this is about because that’s 99% of the fun. But it’s awesome live and I hope they do it again next time I see them live.

5. Smile! - A cover of the same song by The PDX Broadsides. It’s about how rude it is for others to tell you to smile. The phenomenon definitely disproportionately affects women, but it’s definitely annoying even if you’re a guy being told to smile.

6. Bunnies in my Brain - bunnies as a metaphor for anxiety; Also first heard this one at their concert.

7. 600 Miles (Dragon Con) - a fun song about traveling really far to perform for their fans. Funnily enough the PDX Broadsides also have a song like this that’s kind of lovingly annoyed at the sacrifices they make for the fans. Perhaps it’s a trope in the filk world or shanty world.

8. Dock Worker’s Song - a very explicit song about being a sex worker at the docks.

9. Pillowtalk - as someone who’s been on the offending end of this one - sometimes the most random things come to my head in the quiet after, I was able to knowingly laugh at the examples they came up with.

10. Mansplain Man - A song about how annoying it is to be mainsplained to.

11. Drinks Don’t Have a F**king Gender - JD of Scrubs would have loved this song. It’s about enjoying whatever drinks you want no matter what.

12. Dumb Ways to Con - a really fun song about things you shouldn’t do at a nerd convention … or any convention, really.

13. Do You Take It - Another explicit song. To quote my wife, “I guess it’s OK since girls are singing it?”

If you like nerdy topics, acapella, and dirty lyrics, you should DEFINITELY buy this album and support this group. ALSO, they’ll be opening for The PDX Broadsides when the do their east coast tour this fall, so I think it’s definitely worth seeing this awesome pairing.

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